Area code is a significant part of the telephone numbering plan and this plan is a type of numbering scheme to operate the telecommunication process which is defined in each of the administrative regions of the telephone network. Now, most of the telephone networks subdivide their territory of service into geographic regions and to identify a specific region under the network, the numbering plans need to use a particular numerical prefix for each area. This prefix is often called the area code, which is nothing but a set of digits forming the most-important part of the dialing sequence to reach an expected telephone user. The area codes in the united states are structured in 3 digits. For example, the area code of New York City is 212.

Practical Definition of Area Code:

How about to dive into deep now! Did you ever ask yourself what your phone numbers mean? If I’m not wrong, you’ve already noticed that there are segments in your numbers and it’s so surprising that each part plays a significant role to reach your call to the right person.

All the segments of your phone number contain important informations which allow your numbers to function properly. To get a solid proof right now, just take your mobile and dial one of your friend’s or family member’s number using one digit more or less than the exact numbers. What's up? I’m sure, you’ve got that your dialed number doesn’t work. That’s how each part of a phone number plays their vital role.

Now, let’s see what each segment of a phone number means, and what it does. Usually the United States phone number format is - “NPA-NXX-YYYY”. Here, the first part is called the area code and you’ve already known that the area code is the identifier of a particular geographic area which were first allocated in 1947 in the United States telephone numbering plan and the first customer dialed direct call using area codes was made on November 10, 1951, which was dialed from Englewood, New Jersey, to Alameda, California. Howsoever, the second segment prescribes the specific exchange or central office inside the NPA and the last portion is the line number.

The purpose of this post is to define the area code. So, here, we won’t discuss about the other two segments. The function of the area code is to bring a call to a larger geographic area which may contain multiple towns. Even at the same time, big cities might have multiple area codes. However, there are two types of area codes. One is local area code and the other one is called the Toll Free code.

Importance of Area Codes:

There are a few things I see to be amazing about area codes. Agree it or deny it, area codes generally come with a message and also your area code is a big cheese in terms of your identity. Not only this but also you’re judged by it, targeted by it and considered by it for better or worse. Just from your area code, anyone can easily come to know about your locality. Moreover, it helps you to identify from where a call is coming to you. This way, your area code can also be the symbol of your current status.

Yes, area codes represent status symbol. You may argue that area codes are not a big deal as Montana has only one code which is 406. But in most of the urban areas, area codes tend to divide cities into a half-dozen pieces, each of which represents an exceptional lifestyle, because in many big cities, you’re where you live now. For instance, I have friends here in Salt Lake City who moved here from New York about to ten years ago, but on an even keel, most of them refuse to give up their 212 or 917 cell phone numbers. Here you’ll get another evidence on YouTube which will show you how an area code can be a status symbol.

Benefits of Area Codes:

There are lots of other benefits of the area codes. To say, to develop a product or service based business, area code of the phone numbers provides some advantages. To expand your business, you must need to advertise it and sms marketing is one of the most effective ways. Here, the benefit of area code is that you can easily come to know about where your effort is running. Suppose, you want to advertise your business in the New York City first. From the area codes of your collected customer numbers list, you can easily find out who are the resident of New York City. So, the area code can be a selling tool for the sales teams of a company.

Another benefit is that sometimes we need emergency service. From the area code of our telephone number, it becomes so easy to determine the device's position. So that police or fireman may be able to find us in an emergency, even if we don't know our exact location or can't speak.

Because of the area codes, mobile tracking also becomes a little easy. Though reduced privacy is the primary inconvenience of cellphone tracking, but parents come to know about the current location and status of their children. In this case, GPS Signal also plays a vital role. It helps the government to find out the location of the criminals within no time.

Area codes also represent abundance and richness of the American citizen. I’m not kidding. People are expending tens of thousands of dollars for custom phone numbers. They love to stuck with the most prestigious area codes. According to a survey of the Washington Post, 310 of Los Angeles, 212 of New york City, 305 of Miami, 702 of Las Vegas, 202 of Washington DC, 415 of San Francisco, 404 of Atlanta, 312 of Chicago, 949 of Orange County, 713 of Houston, 512 of Austin and 650 of SF Bay are the most popular area codes in the United States.

To conclude, in this day, most of the common people don’t even know the phone numbers of their parents or girlfriend. Because, they don’t need to dial any numbers on their smartphone. But, after having a deep dive in this post, the function, importance and definition of the area code becomes so clear.